Public Library Statistics

Quick Facts About Alberta Public Libraries

Library Boards and Service Points

• 225 municipal library boards responsible for serving Albertans.
• Seven regional library systems serving 209 library boards, 301 municipalities, and 264 library service points.
• 316 library service points across Alberta.

Municipalities

• 356 municipalities in Alberta, including Metis Settlements, Improvement Districts and Special Areas
• 317 (89%) municipalities provide access to municipal library service.
• 39 municipalities do not provide any level of public library service (many of these are Summer Villages)
• 3,569,891 Albertans (based on 2011 population) have access to a public library: 99.6% of the total provincial population.
• Only 0.4% of the provincial population does not have access to public library service

Library Use

• 46% of adult Albertans have used a public library in the last twelve months.
• 62% of Albertan households reported having a member who had used a public library in the past twelve months

  Source: Leger Marketing, 2012

In 2010,

• Albertans had access to over 10 million books, CDs, DVDs, eBooks and other materials at Alberta public libraries (2.96 library items per capita).
• There were 1,424,299 library cardholders in Alberta, representing 40% of the population.
• Albertans borrowed over 42 million items from public libraries.
• Alberta libraries circulated 12 items per person.
• Albertans visited their libraries in person over 18 million times.
• Albertans visited their libraries virtually through their library’s website over 25 million times.
• Over 920,000 people took part in one of the many programs offered by Alberta’s libraries.

Library Funding

In 2010,

• Provincial operating grants to public library boards (municipal and system) totaled $24,729,402, representing 15% of total library operating revenue.
• The province also expended $3,984,584 to support the provincial library network. This included funds for SuperNet connectivity for all public libraries, The Alberta Public Library Electronic Network (APLEN) and the resource sharing network.  Total provincial support for public library service amounted to $28,713,986. 
• Municipal contributions (including in-kind support) to public library boards (municipal and system) amounted to $113,133,285. This represented 68% of total library operating revenue.
• Public libraries spent $11,828,343 on library materials ($3.35 per capita served).

In the five-year period between 2005 and 2010,

• Local funding support for public libraries increased by 39%
• Provincial grants to public library boards increased by 52%
• Population served by public libraries increased by 13%

Support for public library service in Alberta

Other Facts About Alberta's Public Libraries

In 2010,

• There were 1,864 (full-time equivalent) employees in public libraries. In addition, there were 166 full-time employees in library systems. In total, there were 2,030 full-time employees devoted to public library service in Alberta.
• Public libraries were open on average 35.11 hours per week.

  Source: Public Library Statistics, 2010 Public Library Services Branch